HPHS Adds Security Measures due to Threats
Highland Park High School will have additional security measures in place on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22 due to a circulating social media post that displays a threat written on a bathroom stall, emails from school officials said.
An investigation this week by the Highland Park ISD police, in coordination with the University Park and Highland Park police, has found that the threat was not credible, according to emails sent to parents from HPHS Principal Kevin Hunt and HPISD Police Chief Mark Rowden.
The school will be using weapons detection devices during arrival on Nov. 21 and Nov. 22. All students must enter through the student entrance on Westchester Drive. The front entrance on Emerson Avenue and Band Hall entrance on Douglas Avenue will be closed to students, according to the email sent by Principal Hunt.
The email asked students to remove their laptops and binders prior to going through the weapons detection device.
The high school will also receive additional support from Highland Park and University Park police officers, as well as a canine unit, according to the principal’s email.
This is not the first time threats have allegedly been made against Highland Park High School in bathroom stalls. In early 2013, a series of threatening notes were left in HPHS boys’ bathroom stalls, and scattered shells were found in the boys’ bathroom, according to People Newspapers articles.
